Father William Wasson was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 21, 1923. As
a young boy, he helped his father with placement and rehabilitation of juvenile
delinquents. It was a trait he would carry with him to this very day. As he
grew older, he studied for the Priesthood at a Benedictine college in Missouri.
However, before his ordination, he was diagnosed with a progressive thyroid
deficiency, which would prevent him from fullfilling all his duties as a priest.

So, Father Wasson decided to go to Mexico in 1949, hoping that the climate
would alleviate his condition. It did, for a time. There in Mexico, he met Bishop
Méndez Arceo, who ordained him Father in 1953.

In 1954, at the church of Tepetates in Cuernavaca, a teenage boy broke into
the poorbox and stole about 500 pesos. He was immediately caught and put in
jail. However, Father Wasson would not press charges against the boy. Instead,
he asked the judge for custody of him, which shocked many people. At the end
of the week, the judge came back to Father Wasson with eight more boys. By year's
end, 32 children were under his care.

Now,
only one thing remained: a place for everyone. A building in need of major fixing
in Miacatlán became available after its owner had passed away. At one time,
the building had been used as a sugar plantation, a beer storage and distribution
center, and even a lumberyard. But now, Father Wasson would turn it into a place
that could be called home by orphans of Mexico. This was the beginning of Nuestros
Pequeños Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters).

More than 55 years later and 2500 "graduated" from the orphanage,
NPH has turned into a home for nearly 1000 children in Mexico alone. In this
time, Father Wasson has started orphanages in Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, and
Nicaragua. There are currently about 2400 children in NPH in Latin America.